Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Since completing my new eBooks, I've been in training and out in the field on assignment. All my drawing time has been confined to teaching, Stormy Sunday and to the margins of manuals, insides of folders and loose scraps. I mentioned somewhere that I've been considering birds as subjects.

Monday, May 3, 2010

This post was originally published at the Drawing America blog, then at my main blog. I think it belongs here, too.

It started as an idea in early 1997 as I stood by the Monterey Bay Aquarium looking over the Pacific and up through the pines. I'd been touring as a performing songwriter, making small drawings and watercolors of scenes across Europe and the US on my days off.

Some incident at the Aquarium had made me wonder about my observational skills. Why did I notice things that other people missed? Maybe after a lifetime spent looking at things in order to draw them, I'd trained myself to see better. If people learned to spend time drawing, I thought, perhaps they would become more observant.

As soon as I returned to Charleston, South Carolina, where I was living at the time, I designed two introductory classes (one in drawing, the other in watercolor) for guests at the Kiawah Island Resort. I've been teaching basic drawing and watercolor throughout the US at the community level ever since.

What I did not know when I first started teaching is that many people can draw pretty well on their own. I discovered in short order that everyone has their own inherent style without any instruction. That was a thrill! I also learned that drawing is not taught. It's a practice.

Sure, I instruct students on tools, some technique, visual language, point out problems in execution and offer solutions. But mostly, I help people learn how to see what they are looking at. I also point out individual stylistic choices and encourage people to recognize and develop their own natural mark making. (Why would you want to draw like anyone else?)

What I definitely did not expect was to find myself in the role of a psychological coach. Not all, but many, many adults are afraid to draw. I mean, desperately afraid of what might happen if they commit a pencil mark to paper, or make a bad drawing, or a not so great drawing. Sometimes they'll say out loud, "I can't!" When they do make a drawing, they often disparage it and themselves in no uncertain terms.

Part of my job as a teacher is to coax these students away from their self-criticism and inhibitions.

I have been known to be hard on myself and easily frustrated so am well acquainted with that part of the creative process. Still, it's a shame that the simple act of drawing produces such deep tremors in adult psyches.

On the other hand, drawing is a great, safe way to work out your neuroses, to learn how to see better, to love yourself and become a more fully realized human being. It's a joy to help people learn to accept themselves and to become more aware of their surroundings.

Teaching is a great way to learn. So is drawing. That's why I teach drawing.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Library at Woburn, Mass.

Just because a book is finished does not mean that work is finished on a book!

This pen and ink was made from an early photo of the Library at Woburn, Massachusetts. I found it in a 1902 edition of the Text-Book of the History of Architecture. Of 423 pages, only 17 on architecture in the United States.

I think I performed at this library while I was touring with my program on the history of the Christmas Carol — Out Under the Sky.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I've been wearing Ray-Bans since my early 20's. At first I wore the Baloramas but switched to the Wayfarer which was improved when Bausch & Lomb came out with a modified version more suited to a female head, the New Wayfarer.

Bausch & Lomb stood behind their products 100% for years. Alas, with merger and acquisition fever, the service flagged and now the materials have changed, too. Still, there's nothing like the G-15 glass lens for neutral sun shade. And I'm happy that what I've loved all these years is still available!

Friday, February 19, 2010

A personal thank you to Gahan Wilson for giving me supreme confidence when my lines wave funny. One eye was on the guitar case, the other on Tiger Woods delivering his remarks to the public. Caught the latter by utter chance and am glad I did!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

I beefed this other found drawing up with pen and as I did recognized when I made this and what for. It was August 2006 and a preliminary study for a painting of a whitewater rafter I made for a friend. Once I was into the beef up, I added the outline of the raft and some splashes.

No wonder I didn't recognize that other scribble. That's been quite a while and was the very first thing I made in this studio!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

In the process of cleaning up the studio, I made a pile of demo drawings and in them were two drawings that I can't remember making. Or can't remember what I was trying to make. This drawing could be of a number of things but reminds me of drawings I made as a child. I beefed up the light lines this morning and spent way too long (or not long enough) trying to fix the paper shadows from the scanner.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Sunday, February 14, 2010

All three of the lights in my studio supply room went out last week. I really didn't want to fool with electric wires on my own or pay to have an electrician fix a little matter. One of my drawing students helped me take the switch apart after morning class yesterday to see what the problem was. I ran to Home Depot between classes, bought a new switch, installed it and ate lunch before the afternoon class. This was the first time I've ever replaced an electric switch in my life. I am so damned proud of myself!